Hi XDA,
so basically i bought a Velocity Cruz T301 recently and followed the known procedures for rooting, flashing ClockworkMod Recovery and custom rom (SJHill Rom v0.3).
before the full brick my device was at ClockworkMod 5 and rooted with SJHill Rom v0.3.
i installed CWM by flashing the zip in stock recovery, then succesfully rooted the device, finally wiped and flashed my custom rom
after major dissapointment in this tablets performance i decided i wanted to get rid of it.
So i downloaded the stock rom, wipe and flashed it onto the tablet...
the tablet turned off when it was finished (i think it was attempting to reboot) and never turned back on again...EVER! :good:
i cant even get to recovery
i tried flashing with adb and fastboot but the device is never even presents itselft to the computer.
i found out that you can boot the device into USB boot mode where you hold the "VOL -" (Volume Down) button and press the reset button and while connected to the computer (windows only) a "JZ4760 USB Boot Device" appears.
i did some googling and also found out that the T301 is based on similar tech to a bunch of tablets and they can all be modified by some software released by Ingenic called USBBootTool.exe
the tool is written in chinese and i cant decypher it all, though i found out how to use it based on its usage for other Ingenic based tablets
1.) you will need to disable driver signature verification (press F8 on boot of windows and toggle the setting, i hate rebooting too but it has to be done)
2.) boot your tablet into USB Boot Mode (hold down Vol - and press Reset button)
3.) install the driver for your device (included in the files below)
4.) with the tablet disconnected you would open the USBBootTool.exe
5.) select your tablet in the options and fill each box with the files needed to flash (files included below)
6.) reconnect the tablet while still in USB Boot Mode and the software will flash your device on detection
everything goes fine for me except when i get to the flashing part in the end.
when USBBootTool detects my tablet, it attempts to flash and gives me a stream of errors and never flashes my device.
i dont know what to do at this point. i have provided direct links to all the software im using and also links to where i got them.
any help would be appreciated, thank you to the XDA community in advance
>------------------- DOWNLOADS ------------------------<
USBBootTool.exe / Tablet Drivers (4725 / 4725B / 4740 / 4750 / 4755 / 4760 / 4770)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/79196608/burn_tools_3.0.16.rar
obtained from - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1720621
Velocity Cruz T301 Update.zip (contains the system.img / data.img / mbr-xboot.bin files)
http://www.cruztablet.com/T301update.zip
obtained from - http://www.cruztablet.com/Article_861.php
SJHill Rom v0.3
http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=9390362690511176486
obtained from - http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/27583-rom-t301-sjhill-rom-17-feb-2012-download-link-updated/
ClockworkMod 5
http://files.androtab.info/ingenic/cwm/20120514/T301-recovery-signed.zip
obtained from - http://androtab.info/mips/ingenic/clockworkmod/
I have the same situation. I have gone through every menu in the USB Boot tool and to no avail am I able to recover my T100.
gmick is redoing the software because the coding is set up wrong. Once he gets that figured out there should be a fool proof unbricking method that we can follow. He is posting information over on Slate Droid if you want to take a look.
feyerbrand said:
gmick is redoing the software because the coding is set up wrong. Once he gets that figured out there should be a fool proof unbricking method that we can follow. He is posting information over on Slate Droid if you want to take a look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok post the link to the thread, and ill add it to the first post as a solution if its found to be a working one
JustSayTech said:
ok post the link to the thread, and ill add it to the first post as a solution if its found to be a working one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*Cross Post from SlateDroid* (but I can't post the link because XDA won't allow it)
I found out why the USB boot isn't working. Well, more appropriately I know where it fails but not exactly "why".
The USB Boot tool works like this:
1) Send x00 command (Get CPU Info)
2) Device responds with "JZ4760V1"
3) Host sends two binaries, stage1 and stage2. Stage 1 sets up memory stuff, and Stage 2 sets up USB flashing functions.
4) Host checks that the binaries executed by issuing another x00 command (Which serves as an "Are you still there?" function)
5) If the response is good, the host will flash the images, if the response is bad, it will abort.
Our devices are failing at step 4. The linux usb boot tools (xburst-tools) fail in an identical fashion.
I know that the first stage binary transfers and executes fine because if it didn't the device would be limited to 16k. The second stage is 120K and is transferred successfully. Once the second stage "execute" command is sent, the device crashes.
The second stage is also unique to the CPU type. I've used all of the binaries for JZ4760 I could find on the net and when that failed I cross compiled my own binary from source and it still crashed.
At this point I highly doubt I'll ever be able to fix it, and this completely explains why no one could get any usb recovery tool to work while others using similar devices could. I guess our board is modified just enough for ingenic's stock binaries to fail. Without knowing what's changed (getting Velocity Micro's source) we're SOL.
I can open it up again and solder on the serial header but I'm betting it's going to give me some generic "couldn't execute" message that isn't going to help me. I'll probably do this anyway though because I've come this far so what's the loss.
wow, i learned alot from that post, seems like writing a usbboottool-like application that can send the commands but also log and possibly bypass security checks etc but that def would take sometime. thank you for your insight, seems youve come the closest to cracking the case, actually you found the fault, hopefully your methods can eventually bring about a fix
JZ 4770
gmick said:
*Cross Post from SlateDroid* (but I can't post the link because XDA won't allow it)
I found out why the USB boot isn't working. Well, more appropriately I know where it fails but not exactly "why".
The USB Boot tool works like this:
1) Send x00 command (Get CPU Info)
2) Device responds with "JZ4760V1"
3) Host sends two binaries, stage1 and stage2. Stage 1 sets up memory stuff, and Stage 2 sets up USB flashing functions.
4) Host checks that the binaries executed by issuing another x00 command (Which serves as an "Are you still there?" function)
5) If the response is good, the host will flash the images, if the response is bad, it will abort.
Our devices are failing at step 4. The linux usb boot tools (xburst-tools) fail in an identical fashion.
I know that the first stage binary transfers and executes fine because if it didn't the device would be limited to 16k. The second stage is 120K and is transferred successfully. Once the second stage "execute" command is sent, the device crashes.
The second stage is also unique to the CPU type. I've used all of the binaries for JZ4760 I could find on the net and when that failed I cross compiled my own binary from source and it still crashed.
At this point I highly doubt I'll ever be able to fix it, and this completely explains why no one could get any usb recovery tool to work while others using similar devices could. I guess our board is modified just enough for ingenic's stock binaries to fail. Without knowing what's changed (getting Velocity Micro's source) we're SOL.
I can open it up again and solder on the serial header but I'm betting it's going to give me some generic "couldn't execute" message that isn't going to help me. I'll probably do this anyway though because I've come this far so what's the loss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for my JZ4770 Earlier USB tool was flashing .img without any problem but for now it is saying "load cfg failed". "API downlaod failed' like dialogues and doesnt flash anything. Any idea? Thanks in advance!!
First restart your computer (actually restart it) then redownload the USB boot tool and save it in a completely new directory and use a different USB port
Sent from my Pokeball
Yes, I did
JustSayTech said:
First restart your computer (actually restart it) then redownload the USB boot tool and save it in a completely new directory and use a different USB port
Sent from my Pokeball
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I tried with this suggestion. Rather I reinstalled xp and the tried again. But the dialogues are same. The history is like this. Was having ICS on JZ 4770. Formatted with usb tool and put JB updates. It was not sensing touch so reflashed another JB updates. Now the tab boots, it reaches to boot logo for around 12 seconds and restarts in stock recovery. While it is in booting stage it get detected by windows and adb also. In stock recovery mode it get detected by windows and in turn by adb also. If I tried to install updates through SD card it shows it had installed and reboots after completion. But again the same way it goes to boot logo and then back to stock JB recovery. It also boots in ingenic boot device mode and gets detected by USB burn tools. But when try to flash any of the ROM it gives the same dialogues "check cfg failed" "api download failed" "boot. fw failed" and cant flash anything.
Is there any tool which can be flashed or a script which can be used from SD card for completely formatting flash memory so that USB burn tool can flash required ROM?
can you flash the stock rom in recovery?
Managed using USB BOOT TOOL for ingenic JZ 4770 board in English
JustSayTech said:
can you flash the stock rom in recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks man but I managed to boot the device. I used following USB BOOT TOOL for ingenic 4770 boards. The goodness with this tool, this is completely in English. You will know what you are doing. Even after opening the main window of the tool you can right click and then get another options(yes again in English). My problem with this device was bad blocks at 1024. In the options there is chance to force erase whole the nand partitions which I used and erased all the partitions thereby made all the partions available for flashing and readable by the tool. Then from File option selected stock rom files and flashed them. While flashing selected JZ4770 iNanad.ini file in manual configuration. This tool has really helped me to come out of the issue and will be useful for guys using JZ 4770 board.
http://www.4shared.com/rar/m1BUV5r2/USBBurnTool_20120401_for_relea.html
Got USBBootTool.exe kind of working.
1. Download the following file from Ingenic.
ftp * ingenic * cn/3sw/01linux/tmp/jz4770-20110610.rar
2. Download Applocale from Microsoft.
www * microsoft * com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13209
3. Extract the jz4770-20110610.rar and find the folder. (Using 7zip should keep the UTF encoding in Chinese)
20110610\04burn\20110524_4770_Programmer
4. Copy the folder 20110524_4770_Programmer to location you want to use it in.
5. Install Microsoft Applocale (Just in case, I don't think it is required)
Now Start Applocale and create a shortcut to USBbootTool.exe inside 20110524_4770_Programmer
中文(简体) is simplified Chinese option and should let you view the GUI correctly.
6. Now with the Applocale Shortcut created for USBbootTool.exe you can start the application with correct fonts.
Now this is where is breaks down.
TABLET-8 NAND FINAL BSP(S3 TEST) will allow you to read from it and write to it, but the CFG is off.
\tool_cfg\tablet-8-nand-final.ini is the configuration for it.
DO NOT CONNECT THE DEVICE WITH ANY OPTIONS CHECKED OR LOAD ANY FILES.
See Attached Images.
Next to the Read button is some Boot Option menu. I am not fulling aware of what this does.
What I need is a someone to help me fix/correct the ini/cfg files in
\20110524_4770_Programmer\tool_cfg\.ini
\20110524_4770_Programmer\4760\
to correctly match the files of the NAND.
Also if anyone has a copy (dd to img) or (cat to img) of the block devices.
That would help a ton.
# cat /proc/partitions
# cat /proc/mtd
I would also love another T10x Tablet for cheap.
I want to start building things like new bootloader, kernel, system image,
performance libraries to take full use of the Ingenic JZ4760 (www * ingenic * cn/product.aspx?CID=11)
I also bring Christmas gifts
2 APKS. You can place them in /system/app or /data/app.
Google Play will crash now and again, but it will load and work. (Vending.apk)
Secondly I bring the gift of performance increase, just by a slight bit.
edit the line of the heapsize in /system/build.prop dalvik.vm.heapsize=96m
Remember to make sure the permissions are set back to 666 or 644.
Original Vending.Apk before updates came from here: (Incase you are paranoid)
code * google * com/p/ics-nexus-s-4g/source/browse/trunk/system/app/Vending.apk?spec=svn20&r=18
ics-nexus-s-4g * googlecode * com/svn-history/r18/trunk/system/app/Vending.apk
To prevent spam on the XDA forums, ALL new users prevented from posting outside links in their messages. After approximately 10 posts, you will be able to post outside links. Thank you for
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stupid. how do you expect real people to help post Tech Docs? That is bad Moderating and Administrating.
Make sure to replace the Asterisk's with spaces to normal dots.
Requesting Block Images.
Does anyone have a copy of it they can send me for a T10x?
block images......
IceGryphon said:
Does anyone have a copy of it they can send me for a T10x?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which block images do you want?
...also is there a way to rip the stock images off the jz4760 in the t301.
Such as:
Can i usethe ingenic uboot tool?
Anybody find the jtag pins?
Is the 4 pin conn next 2 the batt for serial?
.......i guess ill try to take a look this weekend
Ics would be really nice, but probably slower than stock..... especially with the limited ram
I unpacked the stock rom. I also unpacked an ics rom for a jz4770, and repo sync'd the aosp and mips 3.0.8 android kernel.
I'm still trying to figure out specs for the processor though. I know that its mips32 - el- fp- r1, but i cannot figur out the dsp version ... if it has one?
Error in erasing nand
nanachitang420 said:
thanks man but I managed to boot the device. I used following USB BOOT TOOL for ingenic 4770 boards. The goodness with this tool, this is completely in English. You will know what you are doing. Even after opening the main window of the tool you can right click and then get another options(yes again in English). My problem with this device was bad blocks at 1024. In the options there is chance to force erase whole the nand partitions which I used and erased all the partitions thereby made all the partions available for flashing and readable by the tool. Then from File option selected stock rom files and flashed them. While flashing selected JZ4770 iNanad.ini file in manual configuration. This tool has really helped me to come out of the issue and will be useful for guys using JZ 4770 board.
http://www.4shared.com/rar/m1BUV5r2/USBBurnTool_20120401_for_relea.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used english ingenic tool to erase bad blocks but m nt able erase bad blocks live suit is giving eror id=0x4848
This is a developer level tool, aimed at advanced users
(see next post for releases)
My Ares8 allows you to boot from EFI by holding Home while powering on. This is good because fastboot blocks flashing the partition table and some partitions.
So I have created this mini OS (zefieOS) using Buildroot and a custom kernel I have been hacking together for the Ares8.
This system allows you to completely wipe and repartition your eMMC, restoring partition table and factory image.
A system like this will allow you to take greater risks with your tablet, especially useful for development.
If you wipe your eMMC to install Windows or Linux, you can easily restore to Android (if you have an Ares8, or use the upcoming backup feature).
It should be easy for developers to port to other boards by swapping out the kernel.
Buildroot custom files and configs are available on my GitHub. (may be needed for porting due to keymap overrides to navigate menus)
You can also check the "Projects" section on the GitHub to see what I am planning.
Video:
(QEMU Demo, but tested on my Ares8)
Features:
Restore compressed disk images (xz, bz2, gz)
Restore raw disk images
Restore TWRP raw eMMC images
Restore TWRP ext4 partititons, compressed and/or split
Secure Erase (Discard) entire eMMC and repartition
Copy log to USB
Entire OS is run from RAM Disk.
Shell access (keyboard required)
Dialog GUI navigable from device with keymap overrides
Restore without touching partition table
Multiple backup support
Source code available, easy to rebuild
Future:
To keep up on future plans, check out the "Projects" section on the GitHub
Disclaimer:
I have tested this on, and have successfully restored my Ares8 Gen2 (manufactured August 2016). However while this tool is being released on the assumption that it will work on all Ares8 devices, I will not be held responsible for any damage caused by this tool. This tool, in its current developer alpha state, is not meant to replace TWRP. It is meant to restore your tablet if it is otherwise useless to you, such as being in DnX mode (which means your ESP partition is corrupt or missing). Running this tool needlessly may cause damage, and this is solely your responsibility.
Releases can be found here:
https://archive.midnightchannel.net/zefie/linux/intel_baytrail_soc/zefieOS/
I am linking to a folder because I have decided to release zefieOS and the restore packs separately for easy updating.
To use, download the latest uploaded version of zefieOS, then download the Ares8 Gen2 restore pack.
More information can be found on the top of the page linked.
For now, I would not recommend this unless your tablet is in need of a FULL recovery (aka you are getting the DnX mode error), or if you are a developer interested in porting this to your device.
Developers should know the modular design of zefieOS is intended for easy porting to another device. This means you will not have to update your files 99% of the time when I release updates.
Eventually this will be a more user-friendly tool, but I wanted to release this functioning alpha release for those who may need to recover their Ares8 tablets.
I have successfully restored my Ares8 from DnX mode to a full working system using this tool.
I will continue to work on and improve zefieOS in my spare time.
Developers looking to port this to their devices should respond in this thread and I will help as much as I can.
Eventually there will be both a user guide as well as a developer guide.
NOTE:
I'm not a developer or Android expert. All information provided here is copied from different internet sources and is to the best of my knowledge. I'll not be responsible for any harm to you or your device resulting from this.
1. PC BOOT PROCESS
Before diving into Android boot process, let's have a look at Linux PC first.
Power Button Pressed
Power On Self Test (POST); identify the devices present and to report any problems
BIOS / UEFI
Necessary hardware initialization (keyboard, disk etc.)
Disk (MBR)
DOS Compatibility Region code (optional)
Bootloader
Active/boot partition (Boot sector)
Kernel
Initrd / initramfs (init)
Services/daemons/processes
BIOS / UEFI is the first software code that is hard-coded on board and runs after we press power button. BIOS runs in real (16 bit) mode of processor, thus it can not address more than 2^20 bytes of RAM i.e. routines can't access more than 1 MiB of RAM, which is a strict limitation and a major inconvenience.
When creating partitions, MBR is saved in LBA0, GPT header in LBA1 and primary GPT in LBA2-33, LBA34 (35th) is the first usable sector. Backup or secondary GPT is saved in last 33 LBAs, last usable sector by OS is ( Total LBAs - 33 ). Partitioning software aligns GPT partitions at larger boundaries, e.g. at LBAs that are multiple of 2,048 to align to 1,048,576 bytes (512 bytes * 2048 = 1 MiB) boundaries. So first sector of first partition is LBA 2048 and so on.
When a system boots, driver of a filesystem is to be loaded in RAM in order to use that filesystem, but driver is itself a file, inside some filesystem. It's like a chicken and egg scenario. So the solution is to always load (as a BIOS/UEFI standard) the first sector on the bootable storage (0/0/1 C/H/S in older schemes and LBA0 in newer), which is (legacy or protective) MBR. This communication between BIOS/UEFI and storage media is through commands which are specific to host controller e.g. ATA commands for devices with SATA/AHCI interface on PC.
Master Boot Record (MBR)
1st 512 bytes (1 sector) at the start of 1st valid disk
Bootstrap code (446 bytes) + Partition Table (64 bytes)
Executable code: Bootloader 1st stage scans partition table and finds 1st sector of active partition (or may point towards intermediate stage)
Partition table provides information about active/bootable partition (and all others as well)
Small size of 64 bytes limits the number of maximum (primary) partitions to 4
Since bootloader unable to understand filesystem (inodes etc.) yet, so MBR is itself executable
Last 2 bytes are boot signatures i.e. to find immediately if disk/drive is bootable or not and hence switch to the next
DOS Compatibility Region
This stage is specific to legacy GRUB, GRUB 2 (default bootloader on most of modern Linux ditros) splits this stage to stage 2 and 3
31.5 KiB / 63 sectors next to MBR, contains filesystem utilities
Still loaded by BIOS routines (or bootloader may use it's own drivers)
Required by certain hardware, or if "/boot" partition (sector containing stage 2) is above 1024 cylinder heads of disk, or if using LBA mode
Volume Boot Record (VBR) / Partition Boot Record (PBR)
Sector no. 63 (64th sector) and above may contain Volume Boot Record or Partition BR, very similar to MBR
Also called Volume Boor Sector, it may be the first boot sector on any partition
NTFS saves VBR as metadata file name $Boot at first clusters, which also contains cluster number of file $MFT. $MFT describes all files on the volume; file names, timestamps, stream names, lists of cluster numbers where data streams reside, indexes, security identifiers (SID's), and file attributes like "read only", "compressed", "encrypted", etc.
If disk isn't partitioned, it's the first boot sector of disk
Boot Partition (if exists)
In MBR scheme, a partition can be marked bootable / active using a flag, usually the first partition of disk
Windows stage 1 bootloader reads and loads only the "Active Partition" from MBR Partition Table
Bootsector or VBR/PBR is read by stage 1 or 1.5 (2 or 3 on GRUB2) bootloader which loads stage 2 (4 on GRUB2) or actual bootloader
MBR / VBR Contains:
Jump instruction (first 3 bytes) i.e. "goto boot code" command
Filesystem header
Executable boot code, usually contains jump instruction for next adjacent sector(s) containing stage 2 bootloader
End of sector (similar to boot signature)
Stage 1 or 1.5 (or 3 on GRUB2) bootloader reads the filesystem table (like MFT / FAT) on partition and loads actual bootloader as a regular file
Bootloader (Actual)
Loaded by previous bootloader from the filesystem of same partition
Loads all necessary filesystem drivers (if any further required)
Configuration is read from database e.g. /boot/grub/ on Linux (GRUB) and <"System Reserved" Partition>/Boot/BCD on Windows (BOOTMGR)
Windows:
BCD is binary file, can be read and modified by commandline tool bcdedit.exe or GUI tool EasyBCD
NTLDR on XP simply used C:\ as active partition reading C:\Boot.ini
Linux:
GRUB makes use of modules to offer extra functionality for complex boot processes
It can show a boot menu to user if needed or configured e.g. for multi-booting or in safe/recovery mode or boot from USB/Network etc.
Locates and loads the kernel of desired OS and ramdisk in RAM
If GRUB is unable to handle the kernel of an OS like Windows, it can be configured for CHAINLOADING i.e. read and execute bootsector of the partition containing Windows bootloader
'os-prober' helps 'grub-install' and 'grub-update' finding Windows boot partition (System Reserved) by reading bootloader configuration in that partition
Kernel
1st MB of kernel from same partition (/boot) loaded in RAM by bootlader in read mode, then switch to protected mode (32-bit) and move 1MB ahead clearing 1st MB
Then swith back to real mode and do same with initrd (if it's separate from kernel)
Kernel contain ramfs drivers to read rootfs from initrd and mount it
Initramfs
Contains minimal filesystem and modules (required drivers which aren't carried by kernel) to access real rootfs (hard driver, NFS etc.)
udev or specific scripts load required modules
<ramdisk>/init is usually a script which loads necessary drivers and mounts real rootfs
finally init switch_root's to real rootfs and executes <real rootfs>/sbin/init; sysV (traditional), upstart (Ubuntu's initiative) or systemD (the latest widely accepted)
init > getty (on virtual terminals) > login (program) > motd > login shell > bashrc / bash_profileRead more about LINUX CONSOLE & VIRTUAL TERMINALS
UEFI
UEFI can understand filesystem contrary to BIOS, hence no limitation of MBR code (446 bytes)
Needs an EFI System Partition (ESP), preferrably of minimum 550MB
ESP partition is formatted as FAT32 but can understand other filesystems such as FAT12 (floppy), FAT16, ISO9660 (CD/DVD), UDF etc.
EFI firmware reads directly <ESP_Partition>/EFI/<vendor>/<boot_programs> as configured in boot manager (which disk, which partition, which program)
Boot programs make use of EFI firmware or EFI shell or GUI Boot Manager to load kernel
If boot program is just the disk, (no partition and no program configured), then fallback program <disk>/<ESP partition>/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI is executed
Secure boot feature verifies signature of boot program before loading
Multi-booting is easy, just read different entry from ESP partition unlike relying on single bootloader to chain load all available OS's
EFISTUB feature of Linux kernel allows booting kernel directly as a boot_program
UEFI works better with GPT than MBR
Must read:
ANDROID PARTITIONS & FILESYSTEMS
2. ANDROID BOOT SEQUENCE
There might be a single or multiple bootloaders (to give directions how to boot). For a typical android device (most common Qualcomm SoC / ARM processor), boot sequence is as follows:
BootROM (like BIOS on PC). It's integrated with SoC.
Processors, bootloaders
POST
SBL
Parallel loading related stuff from different partitions.
Application BootLoader (aboot)
Primary Boot Mode (if no Kernel detected or if bootloader/download mode key combination applied)
Bootloader/Download Mode
Secondary boot
Kernel (hardware detection and populating /sys, /dev/ and /proc directories as the processes start) and initramfs (creating rootfs and other pseudo filesystems on rootfs)
Init (first process with PID "1". It initiates further loading of processes and daemons)
System / OS (ROM)
Recovery (if recovery mode key combination applied. It's a kernel with UI to perform basic troubleshooting operations)
3. BOOTLOADERS
Bootloader(s) facilitate the the initial starting up of device by taking control from SoC, performing necessary checks, loading required components and then hand over the charge of booting to kernel. RAM is detected at first stage to start loading configuration of other hardware (like keypad, display etc.) in it.
There exist(ed) multiple bootloaders which are executed by different processors, on different devices with different (partition) names like RPM (PBL), DBL (Device Boot Loader; CFG_DATA or sbl1), SBL2, SBL3 (QCSBL) and OSBL (Operating System Boot Loader) etc.
In a nutshell, on modern ARM devices (Qualcomm SoC):
BootROM / iROM and PBL
iROM run by CPU0 on power button press, loaded in iRAM (before RAM is initialized)
It may set up RAM and execute PBL in RAM or leave this for SBL. iROM/PBL is hard-coded on SoC, written during CPU production process and it's closed source.
On devices (such as open boards or some tablets) which support booting from multiple sources like eMMC/sdcard/USB/UART/Network like a PC BIOS, there is an extra stage between iROM and PBL:
IBL (Initial BL)
It's also loaded in iRAM. Depending on CPU pin settings (hidden and soldered or exposed for manual switching) informed by iROM, IBL passes boot mode selection to PBL and optionally checks PBL integrity if itself e-signed by iROM.
SBL or XBL (Preloader)
IBL calls SBL from eMMC/SDCard which supports LCD output. SBL initializes the DDR RAM, loads the trusted firmware (TZ) and the RPM firmware if not loaded by BootROM. SBL calls the final bootloader after self testing the device.
Uboot is open-source secondary bootloader for embedded devices. However sources of SBL can also be obtained from Qualcomm.
ABOOT (APPSBL; predecessor of Little Kernel)
ABOOT loads Partition Table, kernel, splash screen (logo) and modem. It's also responsible for charging mode and fastboot mode. Memory addresses in RAM for boot/recovery partitions are hard-coded in aboot.
Other examples of final (i.e. just before kernel) bootloaders are uboot (traditional Linux bootloader for embedded devices) or manufacturers' developed BL's like hboot (used by HTC) and redboot etc.
Manufacturers put their limitations (say of network carrier i.e. SIM lock and others) at this stage. USB protocol isn't enough and communication with bootloader to hack such restrictions require special devices (called Flashing Box or Service Box in common language), even sometimes a protocol like JTAG i.e. talk directly to microprocessor.
As a norm, all of these stage-1,2,3... bootloaders are simply called BOOTLOADER. While on some devices there is no bootloader partition at all and bootloader(s) resides on SoC.
Coming back to the booting process, after initializing boot process, bootloader (if it's locked) checks the integrity of boot.img (normal boot) or recovery.img (recovery boot), loads them in RAM and transfers control to kernel offering it with "phys_initrd_start" address of compressed (cpio, gzipped) initramfs.
4. KERNEL & INITRAMFS
Once the kernel is loaded and extracted in RAM by bootloader along with parameters, kernel starts executing. Kernel is in fact a self-contained (static) executable binary, made up of many object files (.o) linked together at compile time. Once the architecture and CPU are identified, architecture-dependent code is executed as per parameters passed from bootloader. Then arch-independent stage is executed which includes setting up drivers (display, touch etc.), filesystems like rootfs, tmpfs, proc, ext4 etc. and initializing console as well (if configured). Here the kernel-space ends and user-space begins (what they call it).
Kernel extracts compressed initramfs in rootfs (which itself is ramfs or tmpfs) and executes /init binary which subsequently reads its configuration files /init.rc and other /*.rc files written in Android specific init language. With the help of kernel, init mounts pseudo filesystems /sys and /proc and populates /dev directory containing device node files. Then it mounts /system and all other partitions including /data (also decrypts it if encrypted) and sets (SELinux security) policies, system properties and environment variables (PATH, EXTERNAL_STORAGE etc.). Additionally init also look after any hardware changes (ueventd) and started services changes (watchdog) occurring dynamically.
Finally init starts the runtime located on the system partition. One of the major last processes started by init is Zygote (Java virtual machine) which compiles apps to run for specific architecture (mostly arm / arm64).
DEVICE TREE BLOB
Device Tree Blob (DTB) - created by DT Compiler (DTC) from DT Source (DTS) text - is a mapping of hardware components on a board/SoC and usually a part of kernel source.
PC hardware usually support hardware enumeration through ACPI i.e. kernel may enquire (probe) the buses - PCI (internal devices), USB (external devices), SCSI (storage devices), HDMI/DVI/VGA (display devices) etc. - which device is connected to it.
Buses on embedded devices (including Android devices) mostly don't support enumeration (hardware discovery) because there are usually fixed set of devices and no option for a different OS to be loaded on device. Therefore OS needs to be informed of all connected devices and this is done by providing a standard DTB to kernel. DTB is provided by SoC / motherboard vendor and is usually a part of kernel source. During boot process, DTB is loaded by bootloader at boot time and passed to kernel so that it can discover hardware and create node points accordingly.
We can view device tree on Adroid device by:
Code:
~# ls /sys/firmware/devicetree/base
~# ls /proc/device-tree
DTB may live on a separate dtb/odm partition as specified by AOSP (and was the proposed solution for ARM based embedded Linux devices before Android's birth) but that isn't widely practiced. Usually DTB is appended to kernel zImage/Image.gz or placed at second stage inside boot.img.
VERIFIED / SECURE BOOT
Ensuring a chain of trust from Power ON up to loading of kernel is with the domain of SoC vendor (Qualcomm, Intel etc.) and OEM's. Injecting some malicious or harmful code at any point during booting is made harder to the extent of impossibility.
To ensure a secure booting chain, PBL verifies authenticity of SBL which subsequently verifies integrity of bootloaders (TZ, RPM, DSP, HYP and aboot) so that to avoid loading of unsigned images (boot, recovery, system and others). TZ, after being loaded by SBL also verifies ABOOT using a hardware-based root certificate.
A bootloader with Verified/Secure Boot implementation verifies boot.img or recovery.img (kernel, initramfs and DTB appended to kernel or on second stage of boot.img) by matching their signature with key(s) stored in "OEM keystore" (some partition like CMNLIB, KEYMASTER or with some other name) which itself is signed by OEM. Some vendors allow replacing/appending this keystore with custom one so that custom signed images can be flashed followed by re-locking of bootloader. A simple detail is given here.
At this stage, the chain of trust is handed over to "dm-verity" key stored in boot image initramfs, responsible for "Verified Boot" process of Google/AOSP. Dm-verity (a part of Verified Boot implementing Linux Device Mapper by Google) is a kernel feature i.e. it comes into action after boot image (kernel and ramdisk) is loaded in RAM. It verifies subsequently loading block devices; /system, (/vendor if it exists) and optionally others.
For details see this, this and this.
Google suggests integrating libavb (native code to verify integrity of boot.img) in bootloaders starting from Verified Boot 2.
Unlocking Bootloader
Read here to know about the risks of BL unlocking.
Unsigned kernel or recovery cannot be loaded unless bootloader is unlocked. To make any modification to OS, a critical piece of process is disabling a security system built into the Android's bootloader (aboot) that protects the read-only partitions from accidental (or intentional) modification for privacy, security and DRM. This is what's referred to as "unlocking NAND" or "unlocking bootloader." You have to firstly unlock bootloader to modify partitions "boot" or "recovery" and to gain root access on /system. If bootloader is locked, you only have write access to /cache and /data partitions. Everything else is read-only on device and bootloader will prevent unsigned images from being flashed to the phone. Unlocked bootloader ignores signature verification check which was initiated by BootROM and then transferred to "SBL" and then to "ABOOT" while loading kernel or recovery.
Some newer devices don't allow unlocking of bootloader directly (FRP) without permission from manufacturer to ensure more security i.e. contents of partition "devinfo" are signed by the OEM and can't be modified without their approval. After having permission, an official method is provided to unlock BL using PC. Still some functions related to Proprietary Content might be lost due to bootloader unlocking.
DRM is used to protect content from being copied.
Certain pre-loaded content on your device may also be inaccessible due to the removal of DRM security keys.
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Click to collapse
Android Rooting
Must Read: Root User and Linux Capabilities: Linux vs. Android
Note: Unlocking Bootloader and Rooting breaks "Verified Boot". It can be dangerous.
In order to perform some privileged task on Android, we need to "root" the device first. Since it's impossible to start a process with elevated privelages from within running Android OS, rooting usually involves running a root process (su-daemon) from boot with all capabilities. Superuser requests are made by any non-privelaged programs by executing "su" binary and permissions are managed by an app.
In early days, rooting usually involved booting into a custom recovery which in turn mounted and modified /system files. Usually some daemon's executable binary was replaced with a custom script. In order to address the OTA and other issues caused by improving security features (SELinux, Verfied Boot, SafetyNet etc.), systemless root method was introduced which is used by latest apps like Magisk. It involves modifying /boot image and putting some files on /data as well. So a new init service is injected fulfilling all necessary requirements of new security mechanisms.
In both cases, a locked bootloader won't boot custom recovery or modifed kernel (boot.img). See Verified Boot. Therefore bootloader needs to be unlocked for rooting.
However it is possible to gain root sometimes without unlocked bootloader but not always.
Other methods of rooting a phone from within a running ROM using some sort of One-Click rooting solution (KingRoot, Z4Root, KingoRoot etc.) depend on some vulnerability or exploit in Android OS. Making such security breaches is getting harder and harder with every new release of Android and with improved defense mechanisms, though it varies for different vendors too. The most prominent was with the release of Lollipop and Marshmallow when systemless method had to be introduced beacuse the previous methods failed to work. When phone is rooted using one of such improper root methods, there is a high probability to face "incomplete root" like messages at some point. If such a rooting method works for your device, it's alarming. This exploit is also a way for malware to enter your device. For examples, see Magisk Installation - Exploits, this and this. A very popular exploit dirty cow was patched later.
In addition to that, there are some hacks for certain devices to flash custom recovery without unlocking bootloader using some kind of Firmware Flasher tool (SPFlasher, MiFlasher etc.) in Download Mode because Download Mode provides access to device even before bootloader/fastboot is loaded. Or if you are expert in coding, you can mimic the custom recovery image look like the factory signed firmware and flash it through stock recovery. But this exploit isn't a universal solution either.
So the proper way to rooting which doesn't need any vulnerability, goes through unlocked bootloader. While buying a new phone this must be considered. Keeping you away from root access and unlocked bootloader goes in favor of vendors. By forcing you to use their ROMs (with bundle of useless bloatware apps), they earn a lot from you - money as well as forced loyalty - by collecting data, showing ads and using a lot of other tactics. Go for a brand that provides kernel source and ability to unlock bootloader (on customer's responsibility and with voided warranty obviously).
FIRMWARE UPDATE PROTOCOLS (BOOTLOADER MODE)
Likewise BL, on every device there might be a single or multiple BL modes with different names like bootloader mode, download mode, emergency mode (EDL), ODIN (Samsung), nvFlash tool etc. When we boot in BL mode, device is stuck on boot logo. Some factory flashers work in these modes such as MiFlasher (Xiaomi) and SP Flash Tool (for MTK devices). Bootloader or Download Mode is accessible even if device is soft bricked i.e. if Recovery and/or ROM isn't accessible.
Download Mode
Download Mode (certain button combination while powering on device; usually Vol. Up + Vol. Down or Vol. Down for longer duration + Power) is an official method used by many vendors to flash factory firmware / updates using Flasher (software). Emergency Download Mode (EDL), as it's called on Xiaomi Devices, can also be accessed through fastboot/adb commands or by using some jigs/jumpers. However, to ensure more security, EDL is disabled on some newer devices.
Download Mode is primary to bootloader mode (at PBL or SBL stage) and can be used without unlocking bootloader.
Odin (Samsung), QPST/QFIL work in Download mode (Qualcomm HS-USB QDloader 9008).
When we boot in Download mode, device is stuck on blank screen.
Fastboot Mode
Fastboot - provided by ABOOT - is a software development tool and a standard communication protocol for Android bootloader. It's an alternate of recovery flashing that works in BootLoader mode (aboot) and comes bundled on most of the recent ARM Qualcomm devices. It's a minimal UI through commandline to interact with device in case of failure or to modify / flash partitions. Some OEM's provide fastboot with limited functionality e.g. 'fastboot oem' commands not working and some devices haven't at all. It's up to the discretion of mobile phone vendor.
Fastboot mode is used to perform operations through commands when device is connected to PC through USB. It works even when phone is not switched on in Recovery or ROM or even if android isn't installed on phone. You can read here what operations we can perform through fastboot mode.
Only NAND (eMMC) and USB modules (drivers) are activated at this stage.
INIT PROCESSES & SERVICES: ANDROID vs. LINUX
FILESYSTEM TREE MOUNTED BY INIT: ANDROID vs. LINUX
RESOURCES:
From the bootloader to the kernel
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
RESERVED
You have to firstly unlock bootloader to modify partitions "boot" or "recovery" and to gain root access on /system. If bootloader is locked, you only have write access to /cache and /data partitions. Everything else is read-only on device and bootloader will prevent unsigned images from being flashed to the phone.
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I'm under the impression that unlocking the bootloader is not mandatory for rooting the device.
You can root the device with a locked bootloader and gain full access to /system partition.
NikosD said:
I'm under the impression that unlocking the bootloader is not mandatory for rooting the device.
You can root the device with a locked bootloader and gain full access to /system partition.
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Click to collapse
Yeah I think my brief statement is a bit misleading because rooting is out of the scope of this thread. I have added some details to first post.
Thank you very much for all this useful info.
Some more comments.
A locked bootloader won't boot custom recovery or modified kernel (boot.img)
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It happens to have a budget Chinese tablet with Oreo 8.0 and MediaTek SoC, which I can root using a modified/patched boot.img with Magisk v17.1 inside of course - I mean full root without problems - keeping the bootloader locked before and after rooting.
In addition to that, there are some hacks for certain devices to flash custom recovery without unlocking bootloader using some kind of Firmware Flasher tool (SPFlasher, MiFlasher etc.) in Download Mode because Download Mode provides access to device even before bootloader/fastboot is loaded
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The tablet mentioned above, belongs to this category too.
Using SPFT (Smart Phone Flash Tool), I can flash custom recovery TWRP for my device without unlocking the bootloader.
So, I have two questions:
1) Is it rare to have such a device or is it common nowadays to be able to root and flash custom recovery TWRP with locked bootloader ?
2) How is technically possible to patch boot.img for rooting and flash TWRP using SPFlashTool (even in download mode before bootloader) without complains afterwards from bootloader, verified boot, dm-verity and all these safety checks that validate digital signature of Vendor ?
I mean you can do whatever you want before bootloader starts, but how can you escape from security traps after the initialization of bootloader verifications ?
Thank you.
NikosD said:
1) Is it rare to have such a device or is it common nowadays to be able to root and flash custom recovery TWRP with locked bootloader ?
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure how common it is but I must say these are exploits. Developers are making use of these vulnerabilities for positive and negative purposes. But these are not a "long-term" solution for rooting.
2) How is technically possible to patch boot.img for rooting and flash TWRP using SPFlashTool (even in download mode before bootloader) without complains afterwards from bootloader, verified boot, dm-verity and all these safety checks that validate digital signature of Vendor ?
I mean you can do whatever you want before bootloader starts, but how can you escape from security traps after the initialization of bootloader verifications ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what my point is. Fastboot code verifies signatures/hashes only when flashing the image and doesn't verify or fails to verify integrity if image is already flashed. This is not the desired behavior so it's an exploit and it should be closed. Letting unsigned images be flashed in Download Mode is another exploit which is common with Chinese vendors as far as I have come across some instances. They don't address "loopholes" seriously. Failure to stop security breaches at or after bootloader level is definitely on SoC Vendor or OEM's part. I have added a paragraph in first post with some useful details and links.
This link explains:
The Qualcomm SoC is analyzed in the previous chapter dload / edl mode, the mode in the firmware image download process does not do any verification, can be directly written into the brush.
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It's badly translated from Chinese but is informative.
Exploiting Qualcomm EDL Programmers is a complete series on this subject summarized here.
mirfatif said:
Only NAND (eMMC) and USB modules (drivers) are activated at this stage.
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Hey pal, I'd like to know if you could help me with an issue I'm facing. I have a Moto G5 that isn't booting to any ROM (it either bootloops in bootlogo or in boot animation), and also on TWRP and during the boot animations the device is slow as hell (like 0.5 FPS on TWRP and even less on boot animation; on TWRP the device also takes a few seconds to complete even the simplest tasks - like the press of a button or the swipe of a slider - here's a video that shows differences between how stuff works on fastboot and how slow things are on TWRP, it takes like 2 hours to completely flash a custom ROM, i.e.).
I know much of the issue will be device-specific, but my point (and the reason I quoted that specific part of your OP) is that, on fastboot mode, the device is snappy and responsive. When I press a button it completes the corresponding task immediately, frames don't stutter (not that there are any animations to be rendered in fastboot, but when I switch from one option to another using the volume keys, it does so on screen as it should, with no lag), and so on. Stock recovery also seems to be ok with speed, but it's even harder to measure than fastboot because, in almost 10 years meddling with android devices, I have always found stock recoveries (and CWM in the pre-TWRP times) to be somewhat slow. Stock recovery definitely looks snappier than TWRP, though. Tried several ROMs, both custom and stock, and the issues remain on all of them.
I got to this post by researching if fastboot mode was stored on the same NAND chip as recovery, OS and so on (found out that yes, it's all on the same chip). If it wasn't, I could just assume it was a hardware fault on the NAND chip, and that would be the reason that fastboot was running fine but recovery and OS weren't, but since they're all on the same cell, I can only think that some part of the system (I mean as in every single code that runs on the device, not only the OS) that loads on TWRP and on normal boot, but not on fastboot (and possibly not on stock recovery) are faulty, thus being a software issue (either solvable with just a normal USB cable or needing a flash box).
So, my question is: which are the differences in the parts of system loaded by fastboot and by TWRP? Are there any parts that are loaded by TWRP that aren't loaded by the stock recoveries on most devices?
I know it's a rather complicated question and some stuff might be device-specific, but if there is anything you could tell me that are more generic to every Android device, it would help me a lot. Thanks in advance.